Statement on the exclusion of members of media from covering aspects of the Trump/Kim summit

The following statement was released by W. Jeffrey Brown, the founder and executive director of the Fourth Estate, today following the capricious restriction of press access and the prohibition of certain members of the media from covering aspects of the Trump/Kim press events:

"I unequivocally denounce the decision by senior White House officials to limit and exclude any member of the press from participating in coverage of events between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un at the 2019 Summit in Vietnam."

"The punitive exclusion of members of the press who dared to ask questions of Donald Trump does not reflect the core values of America, or of the First Amendment. This deliberate act of censorship by the Executive Branch is just further evidence that Donald Trump doesn’t stand for the freedom of the press and would prefer to be free of the oversight of independent media."

"I would remind those responsible that a free press is necessary for a strong democracy, and only those opposed to democracy would seek to limit or censure the free press."

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The Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation (Fourth Estate) is an international, non-partisan, membership organization dedicated to democratizing news for the public benefit.